Two days after a 19-year-old college student was found murdered beside the NH-48 in Karnataka’s Chitradurga region, the police said on Thursday that the victim was eight months pregnant and her estranged boyfriend, who has been arrested for the murder, is a cancer patient.
The body of Varshita K T, the daughter of a Dalit couple from the Hiriyur region of Chitradurga district, was found in a semi-burnt condition on Tuesday by two travellers who had stopped for a break on the NH-48. Varshita was a second-year BA student at the Government Women’s College in Chitradurga. A day later, the police arrested Chethan K, her estranged boyfriend, for the murder.
According to the police, the probe has revealed that Varshita had grown apart from Chethan after he was diagnosed with cancer and had later developed a relationship with another youth. After she found out that she was pregnant, her family allegedly requested Chethan to marry her, the police said.
“Chethan, 20, is from Chitradurga town. He was working for a multi-networking firm in Gangavathi, Koppal. He was involved in recruiting new workers for the firm, and he came in contact with Varshita…on Instagram. She was a resident of the SC/ST hostel in Chitradurga,” Ranjith Kumar Bandaru, Superintendent of Police (SP), Chitradurga, said.
After meeting on social media nearly 10 months ago, Chethan allegedly promised to get Varshita a job. “They became intimate friends. Subsequently, Chethan was diagnosed with cancer, and when Varshita learned about this, she began to avoid him. She also developed a relationship with another boy. This angered Chethan, and he nursed a grudge,” SP Bandaru said.
Police search site where body was found (Express Photo)
“On August 17, an aunt of Varshita called Chethan and told him that he should marry Varshita since she is pregnant. This resulted in Chethan deciding to murder Varshita. He plots to kill her and calls her to an isolated place near Gonar, where they have an altercation, and he strangulates her to death. He uses the petrol that he has brought along in a pre-planned manner to burn her body,” the Chitradurga police said.
According to the police, the preliminary post-mortem report confirmed the pregnancy. The police also indicated that Chethan was a cancer patient. “They say he is a third-stage cancer patient. We will be collecting the medical documents,” a police official said.
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“There is no prima facie evidence of rape,” the SP said, quoting doctors.
Varshita’s parents were aware of her relationship with Chethan, the police said.
“A boy called Chethan called my daughter and took her away to kill her. If I had known their problems, I would have intervened. I looked after her like a boy and did all kinds of manual labour to provide her an education,” Varshita’s mother, Jyoti T, told the media on Wednesday.
Varshita’s murder had sparked protests in Chitradurga town on Wednesday by various groups, including students, women and Dalit outfits, seeking justice for the woman.